Yesterday, the Beer Hunter launched its new menu, stocked with several new dishes, including a vegetarian menu.

The upgraded line up lunch, dinner, and late night offerings comes as a result of customer requests and testing special recipes over the past year.

"We've been trying out new items and specials throughout the year and taking a look at what customers seem to like the best", says Dave Hunt, general manager of Beer Hunter in Menifee. "A lot of people have also asked for a vegetarian menu, so we wanted to offer them something as well".

We were invited in to try out four of their new menu items, "Cranberry Stuffed Turkey Burger", "Roasted Red Pepper Panini", "Shrimp Scampi Pizza", and "Cajun Tempeh Burger".

Cranberry Stuffed Turkey Burger

The Cranberry Stuffed Turkey Burger replaces the previous Turkey Burger with new seasonings that livens up each bite, but on a Kaiser Roll bun. "It's basically Thanksgiving on a plate" says Ben McCormick, head chef at Beer Hunter. "It's a burger stuffed with cranberrries, onions, and all the Thanksgiving spices that everybody loves." The first bite I took easily revealed a flavor unlike any other turkey burger. The allspice, nutmeg, and clove were well noticeable against a hint of cinnamon and cranberry flavor, transforming their previous turkey burger into something much more savory and delicious.

Shrimp Scampi Pizza

We loved the new Shrimp Scampi Pizza, which turned out to be our favorite among the four new dishes we tried out. Always high in demand when Beer Hunter offered it on a limited basis, it now takes up permanent residence on their new menu. It's a thin crust pizza, with large shrimp, basted with Beer Hunter's garlic alfredo sauce. It's cheesy and saucy on top, but still having that light crunch you expect in a thin crust. We found it to make a great appetizer, and great for sharing and chatting with friends. "Seafood pizzas are really popular in the Northeast", explained Dave Hunt. "We've offered this for a long time, it's really popular, and now we have it on the menu."

Cajun Tempeh Burger

The new vegetarian menu include a meatless burger they call "Cajun Tempeh Burger". Tempeh is a popular soybean cake that works well with burgers and sandwiches, and this new menu item comes with cajun seasonings that livens up the flavor. It also comes with lettuce, tomato, onions, and pepper jack cheese, along with a side salad. It's perfect for a light lunch.

Roasted Red Pepper Panini

The other vegetarian item we tried was the Roasted Red Pepper Panini, which I particularly enjoyed being a pepper lover. They lay on large slices of roasted red peppers, topped with green onions and two types of cheeses, sandwiched between slices of panini bread. It's not spicy at all, but I was able to get the full rich flavor of roasted peppers, and when combined with green onions and cheese, it really doesn't need any meat. Imagine a grilled cheese sandwich, but with roasted red peppers, and on panini bread!

The Beer Hunter is located in the Countryside Marketplace, off the corner of Newport Rd and Haun Rd, and is open seven days a week.